(a) (1) The governing board of a community college district may establish an annual building and operating fee for the purpose of financing, constructing, enlarging, remodeling, refurbishing, and operating a student body center, which fee shall be required of all students attending a community college where the student body center is to be located.

(2) The fee shall be imposed by the governing board, at its option, only after a favorable vote of two-thirds of the students voting in an election held for that purpose at a community college, in the manner prescribed by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and open to all regular students enrolled in credit classes at the community college. The election shall occur on a regularly scheduled college day and at least 20 percent of the students enrolled in credit classes as of October 1 of the college year during which the election is held must cast a ballot for the election to be declared valid.

(3) The annual building and operating fee shall not exceed one dollar ($1) per credit hour, up to a maximum of ten dollars ($10) per student per fiscal year. The fee requirement shall not apply to students enrolled in the noncredit courses designated by Section 84757. The fee requirement shall not apply to a student who is a recipient of the benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Program, or the General Assistance program.

(4) The fee authorized by this section shall be supplemental to all other fees charged to community college students.

(5) If fee income is used to retire obligations the district incurs when it uses a revenue bond to construct a student center, the fee shall remain in effect at least until the bond obligation is retired.

(b) Each community college district shall be responsible for the custody of the moneys collected pursuant to this section, and shall provide the necessary accounting records and controls thereof. The district shall be reimbursed from these funds in an amount to cover the cost of custodial and accounting services provided by the district in connection with these funds. These funds may be expended by the district only upon submission and approval of the appropriate claim schedule by the student government or its designee.

(c) All unexpended funds and money collected by any community college district pursuant to this section shall be available for financing, constructing, enlarging, remodeling, refurbishing, and operating a student body center, and until so used, shall, subject to the approval of the student government, be deposited or invested in trust by the appropriate district official in any one or more of the following ways:

(1) Deposits in trust accounts of a bank or banks whose accounts are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

(2) Investment certificates or withdrawable shares in state chartered savings and loan associations and savings accounts of federal savings and loan associations, if the associations are doing business in this state and have their accounts insured by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation.

(3) Purchase of any of the securities authorized for investment by Section 16430 of the Government Code.

(4) Participation funds that are exempt from federal income tax pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code and that are open exclusively to nonprofit colleges, universities, and independent schools.

(5) Investment certificates or withdrawable shares in federal or state credit unions, if the credit unions are doing business in this state and have their accounts insured by the National Credit Union Administration, and if any money so invested or deposited is invested or deposited in certificates, shares, or accounts fully recovered by that insurance.

(6) Deposits with the county treasurer of the county in which the district is located.

(d) The student government of a community college with an annual building and operating fee pursuant to this section shall determine the appropriate uses of the fee income and the student body center facility itself.

(Amended by Stats. 2005, Ch. 654, Sec. 15. Effective October 7, 2005.)